affinity designer Meet the eejit....

[eejits]

Hello folks,

 

Been practising with Designer and completed this wee critter in over the past couple o' nights. Still trying to streamline my workflow but practise is good (and fun.....)

 

If anyone has any tips on how to make this better (especially the balloon) then I'd love to hear them.  :D

 

Cheers!

 

George

 

[shamelessplug] For more creatures like this, head to my website - www.eejits-online.co.uk [/shamelessplug]

[eejits]

Hmmm... export is a bit pixelated. Any idea on how to fix that?

 

George

[Andy Somerfield]

That's a lovely piece of illustration George :)

 

Not sure about your pixelation issue - it looks fine here - but it's a vector document, so feel free to change the width / height numbers in the File -> Export dialog - perhaps try twice the size?

 

I'll ask Matt to chime in about styling the balloon - I'm sure he will have some good ideas.

 

AndyS

[MattP]

Hey, that's looking amazing! :D I really like the hairy texture you've given him/her/it! ;)

 

I think that what you're seeing is just jpeg artefact-ing, not pixelation... Try choosing a higher jpeg quality - or just output as png :)

 

Hmmm, I think that the balloon just needs some more definition - more contrast to the highlight and shadow areas? I'd be tempted to see what it would look like with an outline too - but that might be too much?

 

Anyway - it's awesome! Well done!!! :)

Matt 

[eejits]

Thanks guys,

 

I did have the jpeg output quality at 100. I'll try .png files from now on. You're right the ballloon needs more definition, I wanted it to feel more rubbery and lifelike, hopefully some amazing vector artists have some ideas......?!?

 

Thanks again for the comments,

 

George

[MattP]

...okay, that sounds odd... I'll try some tests with jpegs later :)

[eejits]

Son't worry too much about it Matt. I did export to .png for using on my website without issue (I needed a transparent background, hence why I didn't go with jpeg in that instance). I can use that.

 

Cheers,

 

George

[Andrew Tang]

Always loved your eejits work! :)

[eejits]

Thanks Andrew!

[boudewijndanser]

Nice! Like the texture.

You could give the balloon a (dark yellow?) outline and maybe some harder lighting dots to make it "pop" more.

You could also position the creature a bit more to the left, make some more space on the right and move the balleen a bit more that way.  :)

[eejits]

Thanks Boudewijndanser.

 

I like to avoid having outlines on the 'objects' that my creatures interact with but I should have maybe added more harder highlights & shadows as you suggest.

 

The original sketch did have the balloon further to the right with no overlap. But I moved it as I worked on it to make it look more like the eejit was looking at the balloon in happy wonder.

 

Thanks for the comments. Appreciate it.

 

George

[Sunset]

He is really neat - doesn't look pixelated to me, I like the shading. The balloon didn't bother me, I saw it as an accessory to the main picture and a feature of your particular style?

[GRScott]

Very nice. Maybe you could use highlights and shadows as outlines. Just a thought. Love you work.

[prisca]

eejits - just saw your work - how lovely :)

cute little characters and what beautiful lines. Thanks for showing it   :)

[eejits]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the comments. I'll be making all my creatures in Affinity from now on methinks. :)

[ChrisP]

Truly amazing work and your other characters on your website and really top notch. Do you use just a mouse or a tablet to draw these?

[eejits]

Thanks Chris! I draw them on good ol' paper first and then do the rest on the plooter with a mouse. I do have a Cintiq I haven't had it long and am still trying to get to grips with it.

 

Look forward to continuing creating creatures using Affinity Designer. I think the suite will be the cornerstone of my creative endeavours for a long time.

 

George